True Colors

VENTURA —  The battle lines were drawn quite clearly in the Larson household.

Dan Larson played basketball at Ventura High and is entering his 12th season as coach of the Cougar boys’ team.

His wife, Ann, played at cross-town rival Buena and coached the Bulldog girls’ junior varsity for 12 seasons.

School loyalties ran along gender lines throughout the family.

Sons JD,13, and Nick, 12, intend to enroll at Ventura.

Daughter Shelaine, 18, graduated last month from Buena, and Kristen, 7, is a rabid Bulldog supporter. Emma, five months old and the Larsons’ first child together, is undecided.

The males’ closets were stocked with gold and black clothing, Ventura’s colors. The females’ were filled with Buena’s light blue and black.

Then Ann was appointed girls’ varsity coach at Ventura in April.

“The lines have now been blurred heavily,” Ann said.

Ann, who compiled a 205-17 record with Buena’s junior varsity, proclaims, “I am no longer a Bulldog. I am a Cougar and my loyalties are with the girls at my new school.”

Sacrilege?

“Well, the skies didn’t part and there wasn’t thunder and lightning,” Dan said.

Even Kristen has budged, having been seen recently wearing gold shorts and chatting with Ventura players, something she wouldn’t have dreamed of doing a few months ago.

“That was a big step for her,” Ann said.

This loyalty shift almost happened five years ago, when Ann was a finalist for the Ventura job.

But Glenn Gray II was selected to succeed his father as coach. Last season, Gray led the Cougars to a 25-2 record and a Channel League co-championship, sharing the title with Buena.

Then Gray, The Times’ Ventura County coach of the year last season, resigned.

This time, Ann got the job, leaving both rivals a little apprehensive.

“It is going to be extremely difficult replacing a person of Ann’s quality, character and ability to teach the game,” Coach Joe Vaughan of Buena, the state’s career victory leader, said in April.

While aware of Ann’s success, Ventura players were uneasy at first. After all, this was the enemy infiltrating their camp.

“I was uncertain with the situation,” guard Jenni Dooley said. “But she has gone out of her way to make us comfortable and she told us that there’s nothing she would like better than to beat Buena. There’s no doubt in our minds now that she’s a Cougar.”

With returning players Katy O’Brien, Kelly Fay and Dooley, Ventura is 8-3 this summer under the guidance of its new coach, a former guard who helped Buena to a state championship and played at Fresno State.

Of course, there have been growing pains.

Like the time at a summer league game when all the Ventura players and coaches got together for a team cheer after a timeout.

Players shouted, “Cougars!” Ann shouted, “Bulldo . . . “ before stopping herself.

“She told us that she would owe us if she ever did that again,” Dooley said.

The opportunity to coach at the same school was appealing, although it seems they’re rarely together because of summer leagues and camps away from home.

When they can, they attend each other’s games, and they officiated a girls’ junior varsity game together on Thursday night.

“It’s fun having her closer,” Dan said. “It’s been fun watching her team, helping her make decisions and seeing her find ways to win.”

This is what they had in mind.

“It was definitely one of the big pros and cons we discussed,” Ann said. “We asked ourselves, ‘Do we really want to work together?’ We’re together all the time as it is. So far, so good.”